Monday, July 11, 2016

Day 2 of DFAT 2016

And the oinkfest continues.

Chez Nous

The second day of DFAT 2016 was made even more exciting as we continued our gastronomic adventure at Chez Nous (pronounced as shey-nou), formerly known as Chippen’s Cafe. It is a charming and cozy cafe restaurant that serves international fusion cuisine (that’s the new trend in food these days).

Coined by Chef Chino San Jose, Chez Nous is French for “our home”. The name is derived from his advocacy of serving delicious quality international dishes from locally sourced ingredients. Hence, the tagline, “think global, eat local”.

Chef Chino wants his patrons to taste delectable dishes that are not usually served and prepared at home. His bestsellers include: Beef Bourguignonne, a classic French dish that, although unheard of in the Philippines, is considered an all-time favorite all over the world; Marbled Ribeye Steak, delicious big portion of Australian marbled rib eye with signature mushroom gravy at a very generous price of just Php 350 and Malaysian Laksa, which won 2nd place in Unilever’s Chefmanship Academy for Best Soup.

At first, you might think that Chez Nous’s dishes are expensive, and exquisite fine dining masterpieces but as Chef Chino emphasizes, he wants his restaurant to be a place that everyone can afford and try.

Here are some of the dishes that you should try at Chez Nous (also my personal favorites):

Cajun Shrimps with Mango Mousse and Salsa

Beer Batter Calamari and Onion Ring w/ Garlic Aioli Dip

Seared Tuna Nicoise Salad

The award-winning Malaysian Laksa

Honey Barbecue Ribs

Triple Layer Smooth as Silk Chocolate Mousse

Triple Berry Pannacota

Kai Artisan Chocolates

After the amazing gastronomic affair with Chez Nous, we went to Kai Artisan Chocolates where we sampled gourmet chocolates and confections. Kai Artisan Chocolates is a delectable creations made from the finest chocolates from Europe and the best local ingredients Kai can source.

The Kai Artisan Pinya-Kasuy Gourmet Bars and dried Mangoes dipped in Belgian Chocolate have become popular pasalubong. And oh, their white chocolate matcha IS THE BOMB!!!

JUST WOW.

Chocolateeeeeesssss

Lachi’s Sans Rival Atbp.

And for dinner, we went to DFAT’s staple participant (haha). Ever since I joined this food tour, Lachi’s has been supportive to Davao Food Appreciation Tour. When in Lachi’s don’t forget their Unforgettable Pork Ribs (pun not intended), Spicy Tofu with Egg, Laing, and Asian Spicy Chicken.

Unforgettable Pork Ribs

Baboy

Asian Spicy Chicken

Laing

Sweet treats!

NOMNOM

For desserts, you should try their Symphony Torte, Durian Sans Rival, creme brûlée, silvanas, and of course, their GREEN TEA CHEESECAKE!!!

Davao Pub Crawl

And to cap off the night, we went around the city to try the Pub Crawl, sponsored and spearheaded by DOT (Department of Tourism) Davao. As we all know, Davao has a strict implementation of the 1AM liquor ban. Despite that, we Davaoeños still drink like there’s no tomorrow… only that we are more disciplined than others (hihi). We first tried Huckleberry’s locally flavored white rum. Local flavors include: santol, mangosteen, sili, mango, pineapple, and a whole lot more. After that, we walked for two blocks away and drank local and international beers at Beer Avenue (Legazpi Suites). I finally had the chance to chug a bottle of ice cold Budweiser (nom nom my favorite beer in the whole world). And before the clock strikes at midnight, we finished the tour with Primo Cafe’s mojito (surprisingly refreshing albeit nakakalasing lol).